How to use Supplier portal as supplier on desktop

This article will show you how to work with work orders in the supplier portal.

This article is intended for companies that use the supplier portal to execute and communicate on work orders received by users in Dalux FM.

Overview of the supplier portal

Depending on the setup and permission, the supplier portal might look slightly different.

For this example, the perspective is a company administrator and dispatcher.

The supplier has been given extra access to Locations and Assets.

When you log in to the supplier portal you will see your inbox.

In the toolbar on the right, you can navigate the different modules such as Locations and Assets. You can also access Settings if you are a company administrator.

In the sidebar, you will see Work orders, Recurring work orders, and Checklists.

Work orders contain all the different inboxes and archives for work orders. Here you can find ongoing work orders and closed work orders (either approved or rejected).

Recurring work orders contain an overview of recurring work orders that a customer has assigned to the supplier. Recurring work orders are shown with the interval of when the work orders should be completed. The work orders are automatically generated and added to the inbox in Work orders.

Checklists will contain any checklist that has been filled out. A checklist can only be filled out as part of a work order.

Assets give an overview of assets. If the supplier also has edit permissions for assets, it is from this menu that assets can be edited or created.

Settings allow the company administrator to change work order distribution and set the dispatcher and approval requirements. The company administrator can also add, edit, or deactivate users in the company.

Recommended approach for handling work orders

The workflow below is a general guideline. The exact process may vary depending on your setup, so please treat this as best practice rather than a strict requirement. Each step is explained in more detail in the following chapters.

1. Approve:
   If you can accept the work order and have all the necessary information, approve it and confirm the date when the work will be executed. 
2. Reject:
   If you cannot accept the work order, or if key information is missing, reject it and provide a clear explanation of the reason. 
3. Complete:
   Once the work has been carried out, mark the work order as complete. Add a short description of the work performed and include any relevant documentation as attachments. 
4. Rejected, sent back:
   If the work order does not meet the customer’s expectations, they may reject it. In that case, it will be returned for corrective action.

Use Approve, Reject, and Complete to communicate with your customer. Each action moves the work order to the corresponding inbox, indicating that the customer has an action to complete.
 

Accepting or rejecting a work order

When you receive a work order from a customer, it will appear in your inbox. To open the work order, double-click on it or select it and click Show work order.

When a work order is opened, the response options are shown at the top. From here you can:

• Reject - Reject the order. You can add a note and attachment when rejecting work.
• Approve - Accept the order. You can add a note, attachment, execution date, and expected cost when accepting the work. 
  The execution date must be before the customer’s set deadline, and the expected price may need to be approved by the customer, depending on the settings.
• Complete - If or when the work has been completed. When completing a work order you can add a note and attachments. You can also set the time spent on the work and which date it was completed.
• More -  This will give you additional options, such as adding information, printing, creating a ticket, or adding documents (only visible if none have been added).

When you scroll down the work order, you can see all the information for the order.

In the Responsible area, you can:

• Set the responsible employee
• View the contact person for the order
• See which service agreement the work order belongs to (if any)
• View who from your company is assigned to the work order and reassign it if needed

In this example, we will accept the work order, so we click Approve.

A new window will appear, where a note can be added, and the execution date and the expected price can also be set. After filling out the information, click on 'Approve'.

When a work order is approved, the customer will receive an email notification. The work order will move from the New, unapproved to the Approved folder in the supplier portal.

Assign work order to colleague

An order can then be assigned to a specific user within your company if needed. This is done by selecting the order and clicking Assign and then selecting the employee.

How to complete an order

When an approved order has been completed, it can be marked as such, notifying the customer that the work is done.

To complete an order, open the work order and click on Complete. You can add a message to the customer, add attachments, and add time registrations. Click on 'Save' when done.

Depending on the setup, the order is now in one of these states:

• Completed - If the order is completed and closed by the supplier
• Completed, awaiting dispatcher - If the order has been completed by an employee who is not the dispatcher
• Completed, awaiting customer approval - If the order has been completed, but the customer needs to do the final approval

When an order has been completed and approved, it will move to the Completed folder.

For company administrators

This section will explain the extra features a company administrator has access to. These settings are found by clicking Settings in the side menu.

Supplier portal settings

The company admin can control whether all work orders should be visible to all employees or whether work orders should go to a dispatcher.

If selecting the dispatcher option, a company administrator can be added as the dispatcher for the company.

 You can also control if the dispatcher needs to approve the work before it can be returned to the customer.

Add and manage users

Company administrators can add other company users to the supplier portal. When you log in to the supplier portal, click Settings. This will open the 'Edit company' window.

In the 'Users' area, click Add. You then type in their email and name. Optionally, you can add a phone number and position.

You can also set whether the employee should be an administrator.

You can edit the information by selecting an employee and clicking Edit.

If you need to remove an employee, select them in the list and click Deactivate.